2026 Webinar Archives – Connecting to Collections Care

Click on the titles below to view the information and videos for past webinars.

Preserving the Now: Archiving in Times of Crisis, August 12, 2026

Invisible Histories is a community based archive focusing on LGBTQ history in the US South. During this workshop, co-founders Josh Burford and Maigen Sullivan will share how they have been saving highly at-risk archival data through community outsourcing, volunteer engagement, and word-of-mouth connections. The session will feature detailed examples of programs and projects Invisible Histories has used to communally preserve data which would otherwise have been destroyed, censored, or lost to time.

During this presentation participants will:

Better understand the risks posed to marginalized history during our current sociopolitical time
Learn ways to engage with their communities to preserve local and at-risk historical records
Leave with practical tools to implement their own preservation projects and programs

From Collections to Connections: Facilitating Access and Activation, July 30, 2026

The Museum of Anthropology (MOA) at the University of British Columbia (UBC) has a long history of prioritizing Indigenous access to collections, recognizing that the objects and belongings held in the museum are important to Indigenous communities, and that their placement and care within the Museum continue to impact Indigenous peoples. These belongings often embody cultural rights, values and knowledge not owned or possessed by the Museum, but retained by the originating communities. Given that many pieces held by MOA still have important work to do in the community, the Collections Access Program was developed to support the work required to reconnect families and Nations with these ancestral belongings and cultural materials.

This webinar will discuss MOA’s Collections Access Program, highlight examples of community engagement with MOA’s collections, and provide practical information to support the activation of collections in museum and community settings.

Hidden Supports: The Art and Practice of Mountmaking, June 24, 2026

Mountmaking is more than building artifact stands; it is a holistic process of protecting object safety during exhibition. During this webinar, designed for staff at small and mid-sized cultural institutions who are responsible for preparing objects for exhibition, participants will learn the basics for displaying objects — from in-house customization of standard mount blanks to working with contract mountmakers. This webinar will follow the path from object list to install, and will cover the questions to ask and standards to uphold.

At the conclusion of the program, participants will:

Understand the role of mountmaking in protecting objects during exhibition
Identify when and how to customize standard mount blanks in-house
Know how to effectively contract with outside mountmakers
Learn the basic workflow from object selection to exhibition installation
Develop key questions and considerations for planning safe and effective object mounts

Assessing Risk to Protect Your Collections, May 20, 2026

Risk assessment is the foundation of successful emergency planning, but getting started can be daunting. As part of the annual May Day Programming, we offered an introduction aimed at small and mid-sized institutions with little experience in emergency preparedness to learn about useful tools that will help you assess your risks so that you can create an emergency plan that covers the situations that your institution is most likely to experience. Viewers will:

Understand the importance of risk assessment as part of the emergency planning process.
Know how to use FAIC’s Risk Evaluation and Planning Program tools to assess their own risks.
Incorporate the risk assessment data into their own emergency plans.

Water Management 101: Safeguarding Collections in Small and Mid-Sized Institutions, April 16, 2026

Keeping water away from collections at small and mid-sized institutions is paramount to any collection caretaker’s job, but doing that isn’t always straightforward. A little knowledge of water management in buildings can go a long way,whether your collection is held in a state-of-the-art facility or a historic house. In this webinar, we will cover how to:

Preempt moisture issues, large and small
Detect leaks and identify their potential sources
Understand your building’s waterproofing and water management systems
Speak confidently with tradespeople, waterproofing specialists, and engineers about issues and repairs

Preventive Conservation Essentials: Tools, Resources, and Practical Starting Points-March 31, 2026

This webinar will offer a guided overview of key preventive conservation tools and resources developed by the Canadian Conservation Institute (CCI), with a focus on helping small and mid-sized cultural institutions identify priorities, make informed decisions, and take practical action – especially with a focus on realistic, scalable approaches when time, space, or resources are limited. While discussions of preventive conservation often focus on temperature and relative humidity, this session steps back to revisit the basic requirements of preventive conservation and the broader framework needed to reduce risks to collections.

Flag Storage: A Time of Great Possibilities-February 26, 2026

Historic flags, both large and small, are commonly found in small and mid-sized institutions and are made of a wide variety of materials utilizing a myriad of techniques. These materials and their deterioration, along with any previous treatments that might be found in collections, will greatly influence the storage method needed for each flag.

Revisiting Basic Condition Reporting: Updated Insights and Digital Methods-January 28, 2026

This webinar revisits and updates the popular 2016 Connecting to Collections Care program on Basic Condition Reporting with the new edition of Basic Condition Reporting (2022) offering both refreshed guidance and new digital approaches for today’s collections professionals. A clear, well-structured condition report remains essential for loans, exhibitions, planning, and day-to-day collections care—and this updated session brings together practical strategies and modern tools to support your work.